>> a warm welcome from the residents of timbuktu as the french president visits mali. but francois alone says the combat isn't over and france will support the malians until they have back their entire sovereignty. i'm julie mcdonald. this is al-jazeera live from london. video of police stripping and beating a demonstrator fuels anger in egypt. syria's opposition tries to bring law and order to the streets of aleppo with a new police force.

spain's prime minister denies receiving secret payments in a growing corruption scandal. and find out what drove a member of this japanese pop group to shave her head and apologize to her fans. welcome to the program. the french president francois hollande says his army will stay in mali until sovereignty is restored. he made the pledge on a triumphant trip to the country days after french troops ousted the rebels from the last of the three main northern cities they'd occupied. hollande got a hero's welcome visiting timbuktu. jackie is in timbuktu for us. not quite mission accomplished but it seems like hollande was welcomed, indeed. >> yes.

francois hollande saw this as a mission of three stages to prevent the rebels from continuing their advance south, to recapture towns taken by the rebels and restore territorial integrity sovereignty to mali. the third part of the mission will take much longer. let's take a look at the president's day in tim puck to - timbuktu. he sent french troops to mali three weeks ago and now has come to congratulate them. the rebel advance has been halted and french and malian troops have recaptured towns in the north and east of the country. francois hollande has come to thank french troops for what he sees as their successful work in mali but the mission will not be complete until the whole of the country is under central control and that's not the case.

the president heads for the center and a rapturous welcome. people are grateful to the french for ridding the city of al qaeda-linked rebels and want to thank hollande personally. then it's back to the airport where i managed to grab a quick word with the president. president hollande, how did you find timbuktu? >> very full of emotion because of the hospitality and support of the population. >> there are now 3,500 french troops in mali. they are the driving force behind the operation to recapture territory and, with power, come responsibility. >> i ask you to be careful any of score settling that could be committed that would stain the mission. be careful to protect the civilian population. >> it has all been done in partnership with malian army units that have been at the head of each armored column.

>> together we have liberated timbuktu. we have hunted down those terrorists to their final hiding places. >> as hollande prepares to depart, he is also planning departure of french troops. france wants to hand over the running of this mission to an african or u.n. force. whoever takes over, there will likely be a foreign military presence in mali for some time to come. al-jazeera, timbuktu. >> on that note, what happens now as far as military operations are concerned? >> well, the push north continues and it is getting to a tricky stage now. the town of kedal is proving difficult. french special forces there have been but the town is not fully secured yet and then there are

vast stretches of desert terrain to the north. all of this area still potentially hospitable to the rebels. within 50 kilometers of timbuktu, there are rebel elements out there. this is obviously a task which is going to take a long time and may never be possible to complete it entirely given the porous nature of the borders. the next thing the french are looking for is a more substantial deployment by west african forces, possibly ultimately coming under a u.n. umbrella but when president hollande talks about the french staying until the territorial integrity of mali has returned and west african troops are on the ground, we can safely predict france will be involved here even if in just a support role with airpower and logistics.

>> thank you. away from the politics, malian football fans will be focusing on south africa and the african cup of nations tournament. right now, the national team, seen training, are playing south africa in the quarterfinals. when the rebels controlled the north, people weren't allowed to watch television and now people all around the country will be watching and hopefully for them, celebrating. the pakistani taliban says it carried out an attack that left more than 30 dead in the northwest of the country. fighters wearing suicide vests targeted an army checkpoint in the khyber-pakhtunkhwa. 13 soldiers and police officers were killed, as well as 12 attackers. 10 civilians died, including three women and three children in a nearby house. the taliban says the attack was in retaliation for the death of two of their commanders killed in air strikes by unmanned u.s. drones. turkish leftish group dhkpc has

claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the u.s. embassy. the turkish interior ministry says the man entered the country from germany using fake i.d. the u.s. government has advised americans to stay away from diplomatic offices in turkey. egypt's interior ministry vowed to investigate the beating of a protestor on saturday that caused outrage after caught on camera and broadcast live but assurances from the government have done nothing to quell anger. erica wood has more. >> cairo's tahrir square and aftermath of friday's angry demonstrations here and outside of the presidential palace. but it's a security force's actions to stop the protests which have shocked egyptians. a 23-year-old was killed and caught on live television, a man

stripped naked, beaten by security forces before bundled into a van. >> i can't bear seeing something like that. how can someone drag someone on the ground like that? this man is a protestors like us. this is unfair. we are in egypt. this should not be happening, enough! too much blood! >> this scene was shameful and degrading. not only was this man stripped naked but all egyptian men and youth were. >> the interior ministry has condemned the actions of the police force and says it was an isolated incident. while the ministry says it will investigate, it stressed it should not be used to justify more violence. the prime minister, too, has called on the protests to end. >> i call on the people through the these incidents to look at coming elections and prepare for then to get the change they want. the change through violence is rejected.

>> the question now is whether these words are enough to stop the protests, protests from people who say the government and president are failing to represent the demands of the people. >> despite the ongoing unrest, the egyptian football league kicked off earlier after being suspended for a year following deadly riots at a match in port said. just last week, a court sentenced 21 fans to death for their role in the football massacre sparking deadly protests which left 31 people dead. for now, the games are played behind closed doors. >> this is a country that clearly loves its football and people here are relieved and happy that the games are finally back on after a year's suspension of the league and opening game of the season is between cairo's own club and

al-la. cairo's club was involved in the deadly incident when over 17 fans were killed. that led to the suspension of the league for a year and now it's back on. people here are still very much concerned about the fact that safety is still an issue and questioning whether even after a year there have been enough safety measures taken to prevent a similar incident taking place again. >> there should be changes in the safety procedures and authorities say there have been but i haven't seen any. >> the league shouldn't resume because of what happened in port said. it doesn't matter whose fans they were. they were all egyptians. >> for at least the first half of the season, the games will be played behind closed doors and in military stadiums. that fact, coupled with the fact

that the league was suspended for a year, has meant top teams have lost key players. the reputation of egyptian football may be tarnished foriaries to come. >> syrian rebels have captured a strategic neighborhood near an international airport in the northern province of aleppo. there's also violence in damascus. this video meant to show army tanks in a damascus suburb blown up by what appeared to be a roadside bomb. there have been violent clashes between rebels and government forces on the outskirts of hamas. iran's top nuclear negotiator has met the syrian prime minister. the allies have threatened to retaliate following an israeli air strike in syria on wednesday. u.s. vice president joe biden has met the head of syria's main

opposition coalition. biden's meeting is the highest level u.s. meeting with the syrian opposition since the conflict began 22 months ago. the conflict in syria has created a security vacuum that criminal elements are taking advantage of. now the syrian opposition is trying to restore law and order by setting up a police force in aleppo, syria's biggest city. the new force includes the sectors from assad's regime. some locals say they can't trust officers once loyal to the president. >> this is yet another armed group in rebel controlled districts of aleppo city but the job of these men is to keep the peace instead of fight on the front lines. a police force is being created to try to deal with the chaos. it is a project funded by the political opposition in exile, the syrian national coalition, in an effort to replace the

government and begin the process of an orderly transition. >> we are here to protect the people, catch thieves and enforce the rule of law. >> but many of its recruits, like commander daher, defected from the previous government force and it may be hard to convince some people at that police defectors will be able to forget the practices of the past. >> it's like the old days, you know, the same faces, the same actions. >> police stations were among first targets when rebels stormed neighborhoods of aleppo city last july. the opposition says these buildings were used as military centers and prisoners during the uprising but even before that, people here tell us that they never trusted the police and saw them as being corrupt. the new commander in aleppo province still wears his old

uniform. he, along with other defectors, acknowledge it will be hard to change their reputation but their immediate concern is getting the financial resources. >> we need money to pay the salaries, the force needs weapons and cars. >> looting is common in a city still at war. many say they're stealing simply because it is the only way to survive. even some in the armed opposition have been accused of profiteering from the security vacuum. some fear syria is becoming a failed state and the opposition is so far failed to create a unified command. >> there are some groups who some call extremists. i met them. they have a neutral position. they're not giving us support but they're not standing in our way. >> the new police force could be the first test in rebuilding state institutions which are crumbling but changing uniforms isn't enough to prove the ways of the past are gone and the new

syria will be one where the law is above all. >> still to come this half hour, the case that's got journalist prostesting in somalia. why a woman who accused soldiers of raping her and a reporter who covered the story may face prison. and as russia remembers the battle of stalingrad, what does it say about the country's

tanzania." mlk >> president francois hollande says french troops will only withdraw from mali when african forces can replace them. hollande visited timbuktu on saturday. egypt's interior ministry has condemned the beating of a protestor in cairo. one person was killed during violent demonstrations on friday outside the presidential palace.

syrian government tanks have been blown up by roadside bombs in the capital, damascus. there have been violent clashes between government and rebel forces in karnak. in india, the man accused of a gang rape of a fizz therapist student entered a nonguilty plea. the court case in new delhi has been fast tracked. the victim was beaten, raped and thrown from a bus. she died two weeks later. on friday, india's cabinet approved harsher punishments for rapists. including the death penalty. members of paramilitary force have been arrested on suspicion of molesting a group of girls on a train. a somali woman who accused government soldiers of raining her faces a prison sentence if found guilty of offending the

honor of the state. she, her husband, and the journalist who covered the case went on trial on saturday. in the last week, journalists it sparked into international concern over the treatment of rape victims and freedom of the press. it's also described as a test case for the country's fledgling government. >> this is the first case in public that has been held for nearly two decade despite the fact that this government is only in power for about four months now so i think what you're going to have a case that is really going to drag for some time and i think like i said it will be -- it's going to be a litmus test for the government jurisdiction -- jurisbundis system. >> iran launched pictures of the monkey it says had launched into space.

the video of the animal that returned is seen here showing a dark-haired monkey without a mole but the one strapped in prior to takeoff has a distinctive red mole over its right eye. officials say the media used an archive video. iran has unveiled its newest fighter jet. officials say it can evade radar detection. the a lot was designed and built by iranian airspace experts. spain's prime minister has broken silence over corruption allegations. mariano rajoy strongly denied allegations that he and other party leaders received corrupt payments in kickbacks from construction companies. speaking after an emergency meeting with his party, he said he would publish all his tax declarations to clear up the scandal. >> these allegations first

surfaced this week in spain's leading center left newspaper. they published account ledgers purportedly showing donations were channeled into secret payments to rajoy and other top party officials. the prime minister issued a firm denial. >> i won't need more than two words. it's also. i have never, i repeat, never received or distributed dirty money, neither in the this party nor anywhere, never. i will say it again. it's false. everything that's been said and all the allegations are false. >> according to the newspaper, the payments were mostly from builders during a construction boom when politicians granted large numbers of development contracts. it's alleged there were 11 years of payments to rajoy of $34,000 a year.

the subsequent anger on the streets following spain's economic collapse is directed at politicians whom many regard as corrupt. rajoy's previous reputation for being boring but honest is under attack. prosecutors, already investigating a corruption case against rajoy's conservative popular party, could open awe my my -- open a new line of investigation. >> to greece where ferries are tied up in the country's main port after dock workers extended a 48-hour strike through the weekend, protesting the abolition of planned reforms of the pension system. many greek islands depend on sea routes for basic supplies and have been without ferry services since thursday when dock workers began their initial two-day strike. russia's been marking 70 years since the battle of stalingrad, seen as a turning point in the

second world war. the city was renamed in the 1960's and the soviet union ceased to exist more than 20 years ago but the anniversary has given russia a chance to reclaim pride in war-time history and in the controversial figure of stalin himself. >> today, the city is going by its old name as it marks its old battle. stalingrad, the scene of one of the bloodiest fights of the 20th century. the russian military paying homage to the veterans who helped defeat the german army in the second world war. the russian president, vladimir putin, among those marking this anniversary. the stalingrad battle lasted more than six months and engulfed the whole city and its people. around a million died. many through fighting. others through hunger, cold and disease. in the end, russia's red army

pushed back the nazi offensive and would prove to be a turning point in the second world war. 70 years may have passed but the memories of those months have barely faded for the men who were on the front line. >> everyone thought until the ultimate victory. the people of stallip -- stalingrad were great. they've done a lot. it was difficult, winter in the tank. in the tank we left city and headed all the way to the west. stalingrad had to be almost completely rebuilt after the war in 1961, its name was changed to volgagrad. the leader who sent the troops into battle divides opinion. for some, josef stalin is a hero who transformed russia into a super power. for others, he is a tyrant and monster who persecuted millions

of his own people. in recent times, there have been efforts to rehabilitate stalin's memory. some see this as an effort to boost patriotism. several buses bearing his image are running in the city and last week the council agreed it could be called its old name for six days of the year. >> he's always been respected. i was six when he died. all the people cried so he must have left something in people's hearts. >> stalingrad is a name, it has nothing to do with stalin. >> each year there are fewer veterans and fewer memories of what happened here but stalingrad, irrespective of the connotations surrounding h.h.s. h.h.s -- its name, will remain symbolic of a battle of sacrifice and victory for russia. >> the white house has released

a picture of president barack obama firing a gun as proof he wasn't lying when he said he goes skeet shooting. the photo was taken at a clay skeet shooting session in august. the comment was widely seen as an effort to ease gun owner's concerns about his gun control measures. if you have a twitter account, best check it to see you're not the victim of a recent cyber attack. the social media giant admits hackers gained access to 250,000 accounts. user names and passwords may have been stolen. twitter has reset passwords. twitter issued a statement saying this attack was not the work of amateurs and we don't believe it was isolated, the attackers were sophisticated and believe other companies and organizations have been similarly attacked. technology journalist says the hacker group, anonymous, is

responsible. >> anonymous are claiming responsibility for this and they've been very loosely politically actively hacking group, been responsible for an awful lot of increase in hacker activity the last couple of years. we had the spin-off from them, lulzsec. the chinese have been hacking, like most governments, engaged in hacking, but there's more public exposure of their hacks and i think a lot of this is really this stuff that is really spin-offs of anonymous. this is idealistic hacking. >> an emotionally apology from a japanese pop star is causing uproar on line. nanami shaved her head after breaking her management company's most important rule, no dating.

>> a pop group, social phenomenon and money making machine for their management company. a.k.b.48 is japan's largest all female band. the singing sensation comprised of starlets in their teens and early 20's. the selling point, a word that combines the qualities of cuteness and innocence as it's become so important in the country's popular culture but when a tabloid newspaper photographed nanami after spending the night with a man, she showed her sign of contrition by shaving her head. >> i know this is too optimistic but i still want to be namani manigishi of a.k.b.48. >> the golden rule, no dating,

so they don't shatter the illusions of male fans. her apology and subsequent emotion has unleashed a torrent of complaints online. one fan writes -- >> it's abuse of human rights not to allow them to have their own romantic relationships. >> it's like a girl being a hostage of terrorists and apologizing or something. >> a founding member of the band, she's spent most of her youth in public eye. the scandal is raising an uncomfortable question in japan, what's